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M12 "Avenger" MBT
The M12 "Avenger" is an American Main Battle Tank produced by Jackson Ordnance & Armor Corp. The inital design was built to counter Russia's T-14 Armata main battle tank that had appeared late in 2016. The then current XM1A3 Abrams project was dropped. Priority was given on survivability and firepower, and took many design queues from the M1A1 and the British Challenger 2. The plan was to have the M12 equipped with a 140 mm smoothbore gun. This was in part due to the slow development of Rheinmetall's 130 mm L/51 smoothbore gun, and also due to the availability of leftover 140 mm XM291 ATACS guns from leftover M1 "Thumper" prototypes. This proved less than ideal. Despite it's devastating after-armor effects (capable of punching through the front of a T-90 and out the other side) the large gun caliber resulted in heavy projectiles, and the size of the gun breech made the fighting compartment quite cramped. 2 were sent to combat trials in the Middle East, and while in part successful (one penetrated the lower glacis plate of a T-90M and detonated the carousel ammunition rack, and the other managed to soak up 20 hits from a T-14 Armata after being cornered in an alleyway) the same issues of the cramped fighting compartment and heavy shells persisted. It was also at this time that Rheinmetall had finished development of the 130 mm smoothbore and was ready for deployment, however it was passed up for the indigenous 127 mm Gun M18. It was of a smaller caliber, but was capable of firing rounds with a muzzle velocity of close to 3 kilometers per second. Initial crew reception of the M18 gun before combat trials was not good, believing that the smaller caliber would hamper performance too much, favoring the 130 mm L/51. This back-and-fourth refusal to accept the 127 mm gun into service went on for a week until a demonstration of an M12 penetrating a T-14 Armata through the upper glacis was shown to the US tank divisions. It was only then that the gun was accepted for service. The M12 is the only tank to not bear a name of one of the US's Generals, instead bearing the nickname "Avenger". All prototypes of the M12 were built on the early production hulls and chassis. Protection As a general rule of thumb, almost all of the M12 main battle tanks have the same protection values. *Armor: **NBC Protection **Upper glacis: 63.5 mm, sloped 16° (equiv. 230 mm) **Lower glacis: 127 mm, sloped 50° (equiv. 165.79 mm) **Hull side: 94 mm + reactive armor plates **Hull rear: 120 mm **Turret front: 76 mm **Turret side: 76 mm **Turret rear: 127 mm + slat armor **Level 9 Burlington on the turret & hull (up to 180 cm vs. KE, 270 cm vs. HEAT) **Additional depleted uranium mesh added to the turret in the M12/Late models, adding an addition 50 cm of protection vs. both KE and HEAT. (note all angle calculations are made from the horizontal plane) Countermeasures *Level 5 ERA An ERA package added to the hull sides and the lower glacis. *Guardian Angel soft-kill APS Active protection system that activates a radio jammer that disables ATGMs from targeting the vehicle. Maximum jamming range is within 50 m. It functions similarly to the Shtora APS found on the Russian T-90, although modernized to defeat modern ATGMs like the 9M133 Kornet. *Gladiator hard-kill APS Active protection system that fires micromunitions. Can defeat ATGMs (if they bypass the Guardian Angel APS) as well as dumb-fire tank munitions with velocities below 1700 m/s. Integrated radar system allows the commander to pinpoint the direction of attack and return fire. *Infrared flare dispensers x20 An optional countermeasure system, it adapts the infrared flares used in combat aircraft into a ground vehicle use. It showers the vehicle in infrared flares, which effectively divert the guidance of lock-on fire-and-forget launchers. It can be used up to 3 times. *88 mm smoke grenade dispensers x6 A simple means of visual concealment. Deploys a smokescreen in front of the vehicle for potential escape from the line of fire. Can be used 3 times. Specifications *Type: Main battle tank *Place of origin: United States *In service: January 2018 *Produced: late-December 2017 *Number built: 8,000 *Weight: 62 tonnes *Length: 11.3 m *Width: 6.33 m *Height: 6.82 m *Crew: 4 *Armament **Main gun: 127 mm M18 smoothbore (60 rounds) **Secondary armament: x1 M240C (3000 rounds), additional x1 M2 Browning (1000 rounds) or 20 mm M22 cannon (750 rounds) + 6x 88 mm smoke grenade launchers *Engine: x1 V12 diesel engine (1500 bhp) *Suspension: hydropneumatic *Speed: 72 kph, 55 kph off-road. 40 kph reverse, 28 kph reverse (off-road) M12A1E2 Prototype fitted with a 120 mm hyper-velocity gun in an attempt to make use of the massive stocks of 120 mm ammunition left over from previous years. Cancelled after it was realized that the gun came with inferior anti-armor performance with kinetic energy rounds. Specifications *Type: Main battle tank *Place of origin: United States *In service: January 2018 *Produced: late-December 2017 *Number built: 8,000 *Weight: 65 tonnes *Length: 11.3 m *Width: 6.33 m *Height: 6.82 m *Crew: 3-4 *Armament **Main gun: 120 mm XM85 L/65 hyper-velocity gun w/ or w/o autoloader (92 rounds) **Secondary armament: x1 M240C (3000 rounds), additional x1 M2 Browning (1000 rounds) or 20 mm M22 cannon (750 rounds)/M197-a (750 rounds) + 6x 88 mm smoke grenade launchers *Engine: x1 V12 diesel engine (2000 bhp) *Suspension: hydropneumatic suspension *Speed: 69 kph, 52 kph off-road. 37 kph reverse, 21 kph reverse (off-road) M12E2 "Gunslinger" Prototype of a dedicated anti-tank missile launcher based on the M12. Passed up for more conventional systems. Specifications *Type: Main battle tank *Place of origin: United States *In service: January 2020 *Produced: late-December 2019 *Number built: 4,000 *Weight: 68 tonnes *Length: 10.864 m *Width: 6.33 m *Height: 6.82 m *Crew: 3 *Armament **Main gun: 152 mm XM578E1 autoloaded smoothbore gun (60 rounds) **Secondary armament: x1 7.62 mm M240C, x6 88 mm smoke grenade launchers, (optional) x2 127 mm ATGM launchers in place of 1 of the smoke grenade launchers on the turret *Engine: x1 V12 diesel engine (2000 bhp) *Suspension: hydropneumatic suspension *Speed: 61 kph, 50 kph off-road. 33 kph reverse, 18 kph reverse (off-road) M12E3 "Terminator" Variant of the M12 designed to counter the newer next-generation of Russian armor at ranges beyond that of the 127 mm M18 smoothbore. Fitted with a new hyper-velocity 140 mm M287 smoothbore gun with an autoloader. Additional armament of a 13.6 mm machine gun at the commander's station and a 20 mm cannon. Uses a modified chassis with heavier sloped armor at the front of the hull and includes the removal of the leveled engine deck. Incorporates a new automatic reloader of the first-stage ammo racks. Specifications *Type: Main battle tank *Place of origin: United States *In service: January 2022 *Produced: late-December 2021 *Number built: 4,000 *Weight: 68 tonnes *Length: 14.864 m *Width: 6.33 m *Height: 6.82 m *Crew: 3 *Armament **Main gun: 140 mm M287 L/44 smoothbore gun (33 rounds) **Secondary armament: x1 20 mm M22A1 cannon, x1 13.6 mm XM218-2-A3, x6 88 mm smoke grenade launchers *Engine: x1 V12 diesel engine (2000 bhp) *Suspension: hydropneumatic suspension *Speed: 58 kph, 45 kph off-road. 33 kph reverse, 18 kph reverse (off-road) Protection The main difference in the M12E3 and the other M12 models is the use of the more advanced level 10 Burlington in order to defend against later generation Russian 130 mm and (potentially) 152 mm guns. *Armor: **NBC Protection **Upper glacis: 63.5 mm, sloped 16° (equiv. 230 mm) **Lower glacis: 127 mm, sloped 50° (equiv. 165.79 mm) **Hull side: 94 mm + reactive armor plates **Hull rear: 120 mm **Turret front: 76 mm **Turret side: 76 mm **Turret rear: 127 mm + slat armor **Level 10 Burlington on the turret & hull (up to 240 cm vs. KE, 300 cm vs. HEAT) **Depleted uranium mesh added to the turret, adding an addition 50 cm of protection vs. both KE and HEAT. (note all angle calculations are made from the horizontal plane) M12/T99 SPAAG Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun variant of the M12. Standard gun turret is replaced with the T99 ADT (air defense turret), and is equipped with 2x 37 mm M23 Mk. 0 L/70 cannons with a maximum rate of fire of 800 RPM, complimented with a total ammunition capacity of 1000 rounds, stored around the turret ring and the hull sides. Is complimented with a pair of 6-in. (152 mm) SSM-6F ATGMs. Specifications *Type: Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun *Place of origin: United States *In service: January 2019 *Produced: late-December 2018 *Number built: 5,000 *Weight: 64 tonnes *Length: 10.864 m *Width: 6.33 m *Height: 9.32 m *Crew: 4 *Armament **Main gun: 2x 37 mm M23 Mk. 0 L/70 automatic cannon (1000 rounds) **Secondary armament: 2x 152 mm SSM-6F ATGMs (total ~4 missiles, 2 missiles on the launch platform) *Engine: x1 V12 diesel engine (2000 bhp) *Suspension: hydropneumatic suspension *Speed: 71 kph, 54 kph off-road. 38 kph reverse, 24 kph reverse (off-road) Ammunition (only for the M18 127 mm smoothbore) Gallery M12A1.png|M12 early production with the prototype turret. M12MBT.png|M12 standard production. M12Late.PNG|Late-production M12 with a new turret. Fitted with the XM196 add-on armor package M12A1E2.png|M12A1E2. M12E2.png|M12E2 M12.T99.png|M12/T99 M12_t_140_1.png|M12E3 HEAT-FS.1.png|M498 HEAT-FS projectiles HEAT-FS.2.png|M498 HEAT-FS shells 127 mm APFSDS.PNG Category:Vehicle Category:Tank